Tag: Champions League

If it were up to Manchester United’s left-back Luke Shaw, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would immediately be awarded the job at Old Trafford on a full-time basis. Shaw was speaking after what can only be described as pandemonium in Paris as Manchester United pulled off one of the great escapes and gave their supporters a night in France’s capital that they will never forget. The 23-year-old is ‘certain’ that Solskjaer will get the job and in all honesty, Shaw probably speaks for everyone in the footballing world. Few things convince the…

Since Mauricio Pochettino became manager of Tottenham in 2014, the club’s results in European competition have been mixed. Successive runs to the knock – out stages of UEFA’s Europa League involved hard – fought away draws with Fiorentina, Monaco and Partizan Belgrade. In contrast to those positive results, Tottenham did experience disappointment, losing to Anderlecht, Besiktas and Borussia Dortmund. Just as there were successes and failures in the two UEFA Europa League campaigns overseen by Pochettino, his fortunes have varied in the Champions League. The first encounter which he had…

Even though AC Milan have gone through a bad spell in the few past seasons. The once Italian giants are back to claim their spot in Europe. Their brave and fierce performances have led them to become competitive in the Serie A. Numbers don’t lie mind you, so that means from where they are this season it clearly shows great progress. This is actually brilliant compared to the other previous seasons. According to some USA sports betting sites, AC Milan is currently sitting on the fourth position in the Serie…

The Champions League final of 2017 is a massively exciting prospect, as Real Madrid look to retain their crown in the face of a fierce challenge from Juventus, who are hoping to rule Europe for the first time since 1996. Since it was renamed and restructured in 1992, no team has managed to retain the trophy, so a considerable achievement awaits for Real Madrid, who with victory here will also stretch their already sizeable advantage as the most successful team in the history of this competition. It would be their…

We have reached the serious territory in this year’s edition of Champions League. Last week, the draw for the quarter-finals took place, and it resulted in some mouth-watering fixtures. Current holders Real Madrid were drawn against another favourites Bayern Munich, while, in a repeat of 2015 final, Barcelona will play Italian giants Juventus. In another promising tie, Borussia Dortmund will take on high-flying Monaco and Premier League champions Leicester City will face Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. In the betting market, Barcelona, who produced a mammoth comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in…

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, PSG, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Man. City and, umm, Leicester City all hope to be at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on 3 June. That’s where Europe’s premier football event, the Champions League final, will be played and 12 teams are already safely through the group stage after five games to next February’s knockout round. Read on to see who could be joining them and which players have lit up the tournament so far. Group A Undefeated Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal top Group A with 11 points, but…

English representation in Champions League has a different feel to it this year. The usual suspects such as Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool are missing from the tournament, while the likes of Tottenham and Leicester City are rubbing shoulders with the European elites. However, Manchester City and Arsenal have retained a certain level of familiarity in the club football’s biggest prize. It’s been four years since an English club last won the tournament, and this season, City represents Premier League’s biggest hope in the tournament. The last year’s semi-finalists now…

UEFA is considering a change in the current format of the premier club competition Champions League, reports ESPN FC. In the current format, only top three European leagues have three guaranteed spots in the group stage and one spot in the final qualifying round. The Premier League currently occupies the third spot in the coefficient ranking and is involved in a battle with Serie A, who are placed fourth, for the elusive third spot. La Liga and Bundesliga occupy the first two spots in the ranking. However, with the new format the…

Manchester City have been drawn to play Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League play-off round, as they aim to qualify for the group stages of Europe’s elite club competition for a sixth successive season. The first game of the two legged tie is due to take place in Bucharest at the Stadionul Steaua, which is Romania’s national stadium. Pep seeks Champions League success with City Whilst City reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season under Manuel Pellegrini, before they were beaten 1-0 on aggregate by Real Madrid, their…

Arsenal fans are used to bemoan their luck when it comes to Champions League draws. The North London club have faced either Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the round of last-16 in four out of last six editions of the continental competition. Their tendency to draw either of the two European giants has played a major role in their failure to advance beyond the stage of last-16 since the 2009-10 edition of the tournament. Arsenal fans have often speculated about a possibility of a fixed draw, but their claims were often…

For the second time in three years, the Champions League final will be contested from the two footballing giants of Madrid as Real go searching for their 11th European crown while Atletico will be going all out for their first. Back in 2014 Atletico came agonisingly close to breaking their duck as they led going into stoppage time, but a Sergio Ramos header denied them and during the extra 30 minutes energy sapped and allowed Real to run away with it, emerging as winners by the somewhat flattering scoreline of…

It was pretty sad to watch, as Vincent Kompany had to be substituted after just eight minutes of action during Manchester City’s Champions League semi-final encounter with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. Not surprisingly, Twitter reacted quickly and showed mixed reactions about the Belgian’s new injury. How long can Manchester City keep faith with Vincent Kompany’s legs? It’s getting silly now. — Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) 4 mei 2016 Kompany is injured. In other news, water is wet, Manchester is Red, and grass is green #RealvCity #RMAMCI — UNITED (@442weets)…

Manchester City enter previously unchartered territory as they host the first leg of their maiden Champions League semi-final, coming up against what is in contrast the competition’s most successful ever side in Real Madrid. With holders Barcelona having been eliminated in the last round, the Champions League appears to have a bit more of an open feel to it as it reaches the last-four stage, and it is difficult to pick a clear favourite in this tie. Despite their star-studded squad, Real Madrid have some well-documented vulnerabilities that are capable of…

Manchester City and Liverpool are the two remaining Premier League clubs in the Champions League and Europa League. If they want to make it to the finals, both will have to beat Spanish opposition. The Citizens are facing La Liga giants Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, on April 26 and May 4. It will be the club’s third and fourth European meeting. The official result of the #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/Pvz577XZRc — Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) 15 april 2016 City and Real faced each other during the 2012/2013 group stages. The Citizens…

On Tuesday, Manchester City reached their first ever Champions League semi-final by beating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the return leg, following Kevin De Bruyne’s late goal. For PSG star Zlatan Ibrahimovic it proved to be another disappointment at Europe’s biggest stage, as he has been able to get through to the final four on just one occasion during his illustrious career. That was in 2010 with Barcelona, losing to eventual winner Inter, the team he left to join the Blaugrana. On eight occasions, the Swede has been eliminated in the…

Manchester City qualified for the Champions League semi-final for the first time in their history after defeating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. Kevin de Bruyne scored an amazing goal for the Citizens and earned rave plaudits from all corners. Maybe not so much from Chelsea fans, who were left to rue the fact that former manager Jose Mourinho let the Belgian star leave the club a couple of seasons ago. I wish we had a player like De Bruyne. Oh, wait, we did once. — Chelsea Activity (@ChelseaActivity)…

After claiming a draw and two precious away goals in the first leg, Manchester City will be firmly eyeing a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League when they welcome Paris St. Germain to the Etihad Stadium. Put simply, a clean sheet will be enough for Manuel Pellegrini’s side to book their place in the last four. With the way they are currently defending that does not appear likely, so more realistically their best chance would be to avoid defeat, unless the game does not end in a high-scoring draw. If…

Manchester City were able to gain a 2-2 draw against PSG during their first leg encounter in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, with the second leg being played next week at the Etihad. Two plays will be remembered for a very long time. The first one is Joe Hart saving Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty kick in the 13th minute. It was a decent hit from the Swede, but Hart was there to make one of the best saves of the season. The Citizens came away with a draw, but Fernando…

Manchester City are the last English club standing in this season’s Champions League, and their first ever quarter-final sees them take on a very strong Paris St. Germain side who are also looking to become one of Europe’s leading contenders. With this first leg being away from home, the important thing here for City is to avoid defeat in this one, or at the very least be still in the tie when they meet again at the Etihad Stadium. It will not be easy for them as they have often…

The international break is over, with England beating Germany on the road before losing at home to the Netherlands. Club competitions are ready to start again, as they enter the final stages of the current season. However, on April 5 and 6 the Champions League resumes with the first legs of four quarter-final matches: PSG – Manchester City, Barcelona – Atletico Madrid, Wolfsburg – Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich – Benfica. Many great players have won the biggest European competition, but some football superstars were (or have been so far…

It would be the story of the Premier League century if Leicester City are able to win the title. If everything goes according to plan, they could be able to win it by the end of April, says Sky Sports. The Foxes have seven games remaining on their schedule, the same amount as second-placed Tottenham Hotspurs and one less than third-placed Arsenal and fourth-placed Manchester City. Now, if all four remaining title contenders record the same results against their remaining opponents from earlier this season, the Foxes will be able to celebrate…

Arsenal face an almost impossible task at the Nou Camp as they take on Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie having lost 2-0 when the sides met three weeks ago. Confirmation of their exit from Europe here will simply compound the struggles that the North London club are currently experiencing, with pressure beginning to mount on manager Arsene Wenger after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Watford on Sunday. It is very saddening to see the Frenchman receive such criticism for…

Manchester City will hope to experience no scares as they attempt to rubber-stamp their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by closing out their last 16 tie with Dynamo Kiev. With such a handsome lead to bring into this one following such a good performance in the first leg, seeing this one through should not be much of a problem for City as the visitors need to score three times at the Etihad Stadium to even have a chance of progressing, so the key here will be to…

Michael Owen hasn’t won any fans since the day he decided to try out his hand in football punditry. The former Liverpool star has had some embarrassing moments in his role as a football commentator, and he has become a joke of sorts among the football fans. He was given the responsibility of commentating during BT Sport’s coverage of the Champions League match between Chelsea and PSG, and once again lived up to his reputation. A number of viewers reacted in a predictable manner: by venting their frustration on Twitter. Michael…

Things are heating up as Chelsea prepare to face Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of the last-16 tie of the Champions League on Wednesday. The Ligue 1 champions will travel to Stamford Bridge with a 2-1 lead in hand from the first leg. The mind games are already in process between the two sides ahead of the crucial tie. The Paris club’s Twitter account posted a vine calling Chelsea striker Diego Costa “a fraud.” The vine featured a number of superheroes along with Costa with the caption “Spot the Fraud.”…